My Life Has Changed
by PorcelainMannequin
Summary: When an orphan learns about the Transformers, she finds her life is in more danger than she could have ever imagined - will she be able to live through this new ordeal? What will happen if she does? (My first story so don't hate please)
1. Chapter 1

Whew, finally got on to some writing! Sorry it's short-ish, but I promise future chapters will be longer! :D Enjoy!

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Cold winds blew through the dark streets as Nora Bancroft walked, her old and peeling sneakers kicking up dust as she went; streetlamps flickered feebly, their dull glow attracting several moths; moving a lock of her shoulder length black hair behind her ear lazily, she kept a tight grip on the twenty dollar note in her pocket - she knew she'd be in trouble in the orphanage if she lost it.

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Nora Bancroft, aged seventeen, had lost her beloved parents at the age of just six years old. She missed them dearly - she had so many memories of her family, regardless of how little time they had had together. Her perfect life had ended one day when her mother left for work one morning, leaving Nora with her father. An hour or so after her departure, she had called to ask her husband for help with something or other, work-related. He had left Nora with the babysitter while he helped her. As far as Nora could remember, his last words to his little girl were "You be good for the babysitter, Nora, mummy and daddy will be back soon, ok?" before he'd kissed her forehead and left.

They had never returned. Four hours after her father had left for the office, the babysitter had called Nora downstairs from her bedroom. It was that moment Nora had been informed of the gas leak which had exploded after a worker lit a cigarette. The fire had burned down most of the building and killed four people - two of which were Mr and Mrs Bancroft. That night plans were made for Nora to be sent from her home in Scotland to her Great-uncle George's house, in America.

Unfortunately Nora only spent a year with him as he too died, this time of a heart attack from which he did not recover. Nora's last family member was gone - she was alone in the world.

Nobody saw any point in her returning to Scotland, so she stayed in a crummy orphanage - its walls, once a dull orange color, had turned an ugly, wrinkly green due to the roof leaking when it rained. Not only that, but this orphanage had little money. Most of it was spent on the worker's alcohol and drug addictions, and what little they didn't use was spent on cheap food for the orphans. The other children were all foul-mouthed, vulgar little twits, and no matter how much Nora tried to stay out of their way they always found ways to make her life worse.

She hoped and hoped someone would adopt her, get her out of this hellhole, but no one wanted her. Plenty of people came for the others and took them away(though it was probably pity. No one would leave a child younger than Nora here)with them, but never Nora. They said her attitude was _"_rancid as milk and twice as thick".

Currently, she was on her way to buy milk and bread. She hadn't wanted to, knowing it was too late and the shops would be shut, but they knew she lied; the one she was heading to now was open almost 24/7. She had sighed, yanked her hair out of the fist of a child who had caught her as she passed, and left.

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Six men stood outside the small convenience store. Nora didn't like the look of them at all. Four were smoking and the other two were either swaying on their feet, clutching bottles of drink, or eyeing her as she passed - some of them all three. Although Nora knew she could probably hold her own against one, there was no chance in hell she'd manage even two. Holding her head up to avoid making eye contact, she ignored the muttering that rose up and walked right into the store.

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I know I posted this already, but this is an update :D I made it sightly longer and detailed! Hope you like! Drop a review and see you on my next update guys (and gals I guess :P)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This will be the second chapter of my first story, and I did my best! In this story the Autobots all have holoforms, and if you don't like it tell me and I might change it to just their alt forms. Thanks, and enjoy! :D

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As Nora stepped out of the shop(clutching the grocery bag tight in her fist), she noticed that some of the men who had been standing out front had disappeared; only two remained of the six. Of these two were a man who looked to be around fifty and another one who could have been this first man's son. They watched Nora as she walked the way she'd come, seeming uninterested - until they began following her. When she realized this, the girl's heart thumped against her ribs in a sort of panicked rhythm and she walked as fast as she could without running.

There was a small cafe on the street corner; it was closed at this time of night, windows reflecting her flickering face and showing her just how close the men behind her were getting; she made only this far before a sweaty hand clamped around her bare arm just above the elbow.

"Get off of me!" she immediately shouted, trying to tug her arm from the creep's grasp; it was the old one, and he was grinning as he pulled Nora closer. She could smell the tobacco on his breath as the younger one caught up; he too was grinning as he stared at her. "Get off, creep!"

"Now don't be like that," the old one chuckled, breathing right into Nora's face, "All we want to do is talk!" Nora's attempts to pry her arm away were appearing to be in vain and her arm was beginning to throb. This time the young one stepped up, still grinning stupidly.

"Ab-absolutely..." his speech was slurred - he was clearly drunk, and now she was looking, the girl could see they both were swaying on their feet - as he reached for her. "Let go of me!" she yelled as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear her and help her, but at this time it could have been in vain. Her arm was still stuck in his vice-like grip, nails digging into her arm painfully. Nora continued trying to punch the older one in the chest, but eventually he grabbed her free arm with an impatient growl. Nora was now stuck.

Nora was not just slightly frightened, she was also furious. Furious that she couldn't get away, furious that this was happening to her - hadn't she been through enough in life, what with losing her parents, her family?

She didn't realize somebody had joined them. She heard him, though she couldn't see him. "Didn't ya hear her? Let go." It wasn't a voice she recognized, though it appeared to be trying to help her so she wasn't complaining! Her back was turned to him so she just listened. The old guy sneered at him, glancing at his younger accomplice.

"What if we want to keep her?" Nora, glaring as best she could at the old man, had never been more tempted to bite a person as she was then. A_rrogant, foolish little_ - just as she considered following through with her ambitions, eyeing the pulsing vein in his neck and wondering why she was coming up with vampire jokes at a time like this, she was interrupted by more speech from the guy saving her.

"Well in that case, I guess we're not going to get on as well as I thought!" A loud **_crack_** echoed through the air and suddenly Nora was free. Her captor was kneeling on the quickly-staining-red concrete, hands clamped over his gushing nose as he screamed in agony. The other looked shocked. Before he coud say anything, the girl's savior spoke directly to him. "I'd like to insult you as well but apparently nature already did," he said, "You wanna try anything? Or do you somehow like your face the way it is?" he added, and the guy heaved his mate off the ground and scarpered. Nora could see him now - he was taller than her and had dark red hair; his long sleeved shirt(also red)was partly covered by a loose black short sleeved jacket. He wore light jeans and a belt. Nora approached him warily. The grocery bag had been dropped somewhere along the way; the bread was squashed and the milk was flowing down a drain in rivulets. "Are you alright? Where are your parents? Won't they be worried?" he asked, frowning at her. Nora looked down, focusing on a pebble. "I'm fine, thanks to you. My parent won't be worried, trust me. They died a long time ago." Nora wanted to slap that look of pity off his face; instead she baed her fists to resist the temptation and listened to his words. "Sorry, I didn't realize...here, let me give ya a ride back to wherever you're staying." Minutes later they arrived at a shiny red Lamborghini(which Nora marveled at for a minute before actually getting in)and it was warm inside.

Ten minutes into the drive(of which Nora explained where the orphanage was to an awkward looking driver), the radio spoke. "For the love of Primus, where _are_ you? You have been out for _six hours_, Sunstreaker is beginning to worry and trying not to show it and your patrol ended two hours ago! Get your aft back here _asap_!" This new voice sounded irritated, and as he yelled Nora's savior - it occurred to her she hadn't asked his name or vice versa - had paled and kept glancing at her. When he made no move to explain, merely kept driving, Nora decided to prompt him. "What's a Primus and a Sunstreaker?"

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A/N: Wow, this was longer than it was meant to be! 0.o I couldn't help adding bits on here and there you see :3 Let me know what you think, please leave a review and see you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

There might be some words here which are missing letters, but just pretend they're there - I'm using a borrowed laptop until I get my own soon :P Future chapters will be longer as the plot will move along a bit. Hope you guys enjoy!

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Nora couldn't believe this. It couldn't be happening; it was _impossible_; it was _surreal_; and yet here she was, caught up in the middle of it all now. The moment the girl had sat herself down in a certain shiny red Lamborghini, her fate had irrevocably changed. She might not have known it then, and she might not know it for months to come, but soon enough she would discover just how it had changed; just what she had gotten herself into.

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"So...let me get this straight..." Nora began, her mind trying to smooth everything out into understanding, with some difficulty. After the groceries had been replaced as quickly as possible(using some human money Sides' had had) the man whom had saved Nora had explained everything. "Your name is Sideswipe. You are of an alien race called 'Cybertronians' and you are part of a team called the Autobots. That dude on the radio was Ratchet; Sunstreaker is your twin brother, and Primus is your Creator-God." she finished, glancing at the empty passenger's seat beside her. Sideswipe had only moments ago proved he wasn't human by allowing his holoform(a projection of a human designed for the Autobot)to fizzle out like a candle; regardless of how much of a shock Nora had gotten(though she'd never admit it)to avoid suspicion from the local police, she had slid into the driver's seat, hands placed loosely on the steering wheel. Only to have him drive through a red light minutes later. "Aren't we supposed to be drawing attention _away_ from ourselves?"

"Eh, one light ain't gonna hurt. You seem awfully calm about all this, don't ya? You just learned about an alien race and you seem...bored." Nora shrugged. "I've always known we humans weren't the only ones out there. Isn't that much of a shock to me. I mean, I'm a little nervous about actually meeting them but besides that..." she shrugged.

Sideswipe grunted and drove on, in the process nearly flattening a stop sign(Nora just ignored it this time, knowing already that he wouldn't care) and driving so fast he fishtailed on the curb for a second. "We're headed to the Autobot HQ. You're in for surprises, maybe a shock, I dunno. It's a long way, so maybe you'd better get some sleep or something...whatever you humans need to do to survive...but don't drool on my interior!" he warned, re-materializing his holoform as Nora curled up in the passenger seat - suddenly feeling very tired and very nervous. It wasn't every day you had to meet 50ft, alien robots.

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This was the shortest chapter ever and I'm sorry ;_; Thanks for reading, let me know what you think. Please leave a review! Also if you have any ideas on where I should take this I'm open to suggestions. See you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Nora was awoken hours later by Sideswipe calling her repeatedly, getting louder each time she didn't respond. Groaning, she sat up as she remembered the events of the previous night; the aberration she was going through. An aching pain grew in her lower back and shoulderblades - not surprising considering she'd slept curled up in a car seat - and bright sunlight streaming through Sideswipe's windows temporarily blinded her; Sideswipe gave an impatient huff.

"Primus, human, ya took your time!" he grumbled, still driving insanely, "We're nearly there and I don't know how I'm supposed to explain ya to the others. I don't even know your name or your age!" he added. Nora rolled her eyes and stretched, frowning at the slowly intensifying pain in her back. "It's Nora, and I'm seventeen..." she yawned, ignoring the 'Bot's impatient huff. What she could not ignore, however, was the sudden swerve he made round a corner; he almost hit a wooden fence surrounding about twenty grazing Holstein cows and charred most of the grass around it. Nora, who had not really reacted to the sudden increase and decrease of speed besides a a tighter grip on the wheel and a veer to the left, sighed and asked, "How old are you guys?"

"You mean the Autobots or Cybertronians? Because either way, we've both been around for billions of years, _way _before this mudball was even a thing," Sideswipe explained, hurdling over a fallen log in the middle of the road. They were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, yet civilization wasn't too far away; _they must be pretty well hidden, _Nora thought. She kept looking out the window and trying to imagine what Sideswipe looked like in his robot form, so she missed half of what he'd said and had to pretend she'd heard him. Which of course, he was having none of.

"Were ya even listening?" he grumbled, "Seriously, _squirrels_ must have a larger attention span than you!" he grumbled, and probably would have been glaring at the girl if he could. Instead, he settled once more for turning another sharp corner faster than was necessary.

However, Nora wasn't fazed that time; she was a little indignant about the squirrel thing, but besides that she was used to Sideswipe's ways(this included his tendencies to go _WAY _over the speed limit, ignore lights and stop signs and not slow down at turns; if anything, he sped up). "Excuse me, but I can pay perfect attention when I focus!" she retorted, watching the speedometer drift steadily on the number '80' - he was going 80mph! No wonder she couldn't see out the window anymore!

"Nora!" Sideswipe snapped, bouncing the seat in irritation to bring Nora out of her thoughts. Well, her head hitting his roof certainly made her focus. "What did I _just_ say?!" he added, waiting as she rubbed her head, glaring at the dashboard. Nora felt her face heat up - in truth, she hadn't heard a word he'd said. "Uh...you said..." Nora fought to remember. "...I have no idea. Sorry." To be fair, she was still rather distracted by the ache in her back. What was wrong with it, she wasn't sure, but she decided to ignore it for now.

Sideswipe groaned. "Whatever. I said when we get there, my bro Sunstreaker is probably gonna be the only one to not want to come near ya...at all...until he trusts ya. He's obsessed with his paint job, looking his best and all that sag. He is a_ vain _fragger." he laughed suddenly, and stopped. "We're here." he sounded uneasy. Nora looked ahead; all she could see was an old abandoned airplane warehouse, but it was _huge; _it looked as though it could house the orphanage twice! As she gaped at the sheer size of it, she felt a nervousness growing in her stomach. She knew this wasn't just an abandoned building, and that it was really where the Autobots awaited for Sideswipe(they did not yet know she was with him). "So, are you gonna get out so I can transform or would you prefer to look like crunchy peanut butter?" He said, chuckling at the face Nora made as she clambered out. She was eager to see a Cybertronian!

Sideswipe made sure the girl was far enough away that she wasn't going to be hurt in any way before beginning. Nora had never seen anything like this in her entire life. Bits of him were folding, sifting, moving to other places; his wheels shifted to behind his newly formed legs; his hood became the chest, headlights moving upwards to the corners; like nothing she had ever seen.

"So, ready for the others?"

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A/N: I suck at writing the transformation part X3 This chapter might be the last for a few days until I get back from this event thing I'm going to, but I'll update asap when I return! Please leave a review, there are lots of you out there and I know you have the time! ;D See you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 already, pretty darn proud X3 Someone asked me whether my OC Nora is going to end up with Sideswipe in the romantic sense, and after reading through my chapters I realize it _does _look like I'm getting this to happen 0.0' I assure you, it won't happen :P I don't write romance-y stuff. They'll probably just be great friends :3 Also, there is mention of rape in here(just the word once, but just in case). Enjoy!

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Her head was bowed low, black hair casting a curtain around her Tiffany-blue eyes which hid her face from the view of others. Her foot tapped on the ground nervously, over and over; her eyes lingered on the cold concrete ground, following cracks yet never straying too far; in all senses, she looked calm enough, at-ease, when really her heart was pounding a quick rhythm against her ribs and her fingers twitched in jittery anticipation of what she knew was to come. As she sat there, waiting, Sideswipe placed his holoform's hand on her shoulder in encouragement. It caused Nora to slowly raise her head to face him as she smiled, feeling like it wouldn't be so bad if her new friend was here with her, and after all - she _was _very eager to meet the other Cybertronians!

Suddenly the doors in front of them opened and a man wearing a green camouflage outfit and polished black boots marched towards them. This man had cropped brown hair and the stubbly beginnings of a beard; the antenna of a handheld radio poked out of a pouch on his chest and many other pockets contained many other hidden things. To Nora's slight shock(though really she should have expected it)there was a handgun secured in a hip-holster. He looked very bulky in general though Nora knew he was most likely less so with all the gear off.

As the army man came closer, smiling up at the now-transformed Sideswipe(whom had subtly stepped to the left so that Nora would not be seen yet)Nora tried not to stare at the gun, fearing he would see her, somehow take it as hostility or something and shoot her. She did, however, try to peer through the door he had come through, but all she caught on about was that it was a very large room, probably taking up 1/4 of the warehouse. When it swung shut with a draught of cool air, she quickly ducked behind Sides' leg again, hoping she had not been seen. She heard them talking.

"Autobot Sideswipe, nice to see you back safely for once. Break anything lately?"

" _That must have been Mr Handgun_, Nora thought, almost revealing herself by chuckling at the nickname(which she would most definitely be calling him later). Sideswipe's reply made him sound like a angry toddler.

"Come on, Lennox! When are ya gonna let that go? I came back one time - _one time_! - like that! If it hadn't been for the stupid railing on the cliff being so slagging weak, I wouldn't have fallen off the edge!" His foot actually stamped in frustration. "I swear to _fraggin_' Primus, _no one_ seems to be able to let that go..." he grumbled, missing Lennox's look of amusement. Lennox simply laughed.

"You mean if you hadn't almost been going fast enough to break the sound barrier..."

Nora, on the other hand, raised a brow. _Billions of years old my ass..._ she thought, chuckling again. Suddenly the image of Sideswipe's holoform having a tantrum came into her mind and she snorted, alerting Lennox to her presence.

"Who is that?" he asked, noticing Sideswipe's wince as he lay his hand loosely on the handgun. The robot looked down at the girl and rolled his blue optics.

"Nice goin', fragtard..." Nora frowned at him, but didn't say anything. "Hey, it's your fault! Don't look at me like _I've _done something wrong!" he defended himself, mouth twitching before looking at Lennox guiltily. "Heh...surprise!"

Lennox lowered his guard and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sideswipe...humans. They are not pets. You can't just pick them up off the streets and keep them - she needs to go home." Before Sideswipe could say anything - or Nora for that matter, because dammit she wanted to _stay_ - he sighed. "For the love of - scratch that, she _can't _go home, because she knows about you." A pause. "Does she know about _all_ of you?" he sounded hopeful. Grinning awkwardly, Sideswipe nodded his head. "Aw that's just great!" Lennox muttered sarcastically, glaring at him. "We can't just keep humans, Sideswipe, we've already got Sam coming back from Spain in a week-"

"If I may interject..." Nora said, affronted somewhat as she strolled up to the man, "My name is Nora. I am seventeen, and I have been an orphan since I was six. Therefore, I don't technically have a home to go to." she finished, staring up at Sideswipe - who was fighting back a grin at her clear defiance of the Major - before looking into the face of Lennox. "Also..." she added, "Sides' here saved me from a bunch of weirdos who were trying to rape me. Going to tell him he shouldn't have done that, smartass?" At that last remark, Sideswipe snorted and outright laughed at Lennox's disgruntled face. "Well, we'll see what Optimus says." he said, reluctantly leading them down a hallway. "He's in a meeting right now, but he'll be done any minute."

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"You probably shouldn't have called him a smartass, squirrel-brain." Sideswipe remarked, chuckling as they waited outside the meeting room; the robot was standing stationary against a wall with Nora sitting in his palm to avoid getting in the way of the men down below. The girl shrugged, instantly reincarnating the flaring pain in her back; she barely managed to suppress her moan of pain, but the face she made as she flexed her back tipped off Sideswipe. He stared down at her, optics narrowing suspiciously as she gave him a forced smile. He didn't say anything, but Nora tried to keep a low profile anyway - she was not the kind of person to complain about a little pain. "He probably shouldn't have irked me." she grinned, receiving one in return from her friend as he looked up again. She was now wondering who this 'Sam' was and what he was like.

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"When you see Optimus - please don't freak out or faint or anything," Lennox warned, "He's a lot bigger than Sideswipe...he's the tallest Autobot, really, but he won't hurt you." he added, as Nora's eyes drifted upwards to see what 'taller than Sideswipe' must look like; her eyes widened.

"Woah...it's gonna be like talking to a redwood tree!" she grinned, causing Sideswipe to look down at her questioningly. She grinned at him and he rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Uh, yeah, I guess it will be! Anyway, they're waiting and I'm not coming in with you. Sideswipe can explain everything." With that, Lennox turned and walked off. Sideswipe sighed, curling his fingers so that Nora wouldn't fall out. "Uh...they?" she questioned, looking more excited than a girl about to meet giant alien robots probably should, "I thought we were meeting one?"

"Nah, ya gotta meet them all, easier that way..." he said, before he walked through the doors. At first Nora was confused; there was nothing in this room except for six vehicles. Seconds later, it clicked in her head and she mentally slapped herself. Cars = transformers in this place, she ought to have known. These were some good cars, too - a yellow 2007 SS Camaro with two identical stripes down the middle of the hood; a black GMC Topkick; a blue Peterbilt truck with red flames; a dark green Hummer with what looked like a heart monitor pulse running along both sides(an ambulance?); a silver Pontiac Solstice and a white Ford Mustang with red decals. They all looked so new and so clean. Nora had always been interested in cars, though she'd never been able to go out of her way to see them. Sideswipe laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Optimus Prime, sir," he said, shifting his weight from one foot to another, "I have brought this human, Nora Bancroft, to base because she inadvertently discovered us when I helped her in a time of need," Nora raised her eyebrows at him; she'd never heard him speak so officially. It was unlike him. "The girl lost her creators at a young age, she has nowhere else ta go." Nora ducked her head as he continued. "I hope, sir, that you can allow her to stay on base with us since she is aware of us and our ways."

There was a silence; it lasted about a minute before the Semi truck started shifting and rearranging itself, just like Sideswipe had nearly an hour ago now. When this was completed, a large, red and blue robot stood before them, eyes narrowed at Nora as though assessing her. Lennox had been right - geez, this guy was huge! He knelt so he was no longer towering over her, was almost eye-level with Nora(whilst she was in Sides' palm, of course). His voice was deep and baritone, a fitting voice for a leader.

"Nora," he boomed, blinking his optics at her, "My name is Optimus Prime. I assume Sideswipe has told you about what we are, where we are from?" Nora nodded, hair falling in front of her face again; she moved it with one hand as the Autobot leader continued. "You are an orphan, and you have nowhere you can call home. Is this correct?" Again, she nodded. It wasn't that she was scared, she just thought not interrupting Optimus' flow of speech was important right now. "I see," he said, looking down at the floor in thought. "Nora Bancroft...you may live at this base, so long as I know you will not endanger the lives of my Autobots or perform any acts of malicious behavior to us. This, and no leaving base without a guardian Autobot, in case of Decepticon attack. Are these terms acceptable to you?" Nora nodded for the third time, but Optimus was having none of this 'no-talking' thing. He looked right at her and she understood.

"Optimus Prime - uh, sir - I understand what you're asking of me, and I'll do my best to keep to your terms." she said, looking up at him. He nodded in approval and gave her a smile before straightening up. "It is time you met the rest of us, then."

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A.N: Because this was so long, the introductions of the other Autobots will come in next chapter - right away, basically just like an immediate continuation of this one. Also Sam Witwicky will make an appearance soon, cos he's cool X3 Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and see you next chapter! :D


	6. Chapter 6

I was going to postpone this, but I've got another story popping into my head and once I've done the next few chapters I can probably start on that one before the plot bunnies eat me 0.0 Enjoy! :D

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Nora was having trouble focusing. This was not because she was meeting a mass of alien robots; it was due to the persistent pain in her back which she had, at first, assumed was due to the way she'd slept in Sideswipe's car mode earlier. As she watched Optimus lead them to the other vehicles waiting lined up on the opposite wall, she kept arching her back to try and alleviate the ache - which was earning some more suspicious stares from the Lamborghini carrying her. Optimus stopped, almost causing Sides' to bang into his back and near enough drop Nora. The floor lurched at her and she grabbed a tighter hold of Sideswipe's hand and glared up at him. "Why do you keep staring at me?" she hissed, earning an irritated eye roll.

"You're hiding something, that's why," he hissed back, ignoring the exasperated stare they were receiving from the Autobot leader. "The sooner you tell me what it is the sooner I'll stop starin' at ya!" Nora frowned. They were really just whisper-yelling now. "I haven't _got _anything to hide, dumbass!" They faced each other head on and thus began their staring match - until Optimus cleared his throat loudly.

"If the two of you are finished acting like sparklings fighting over energon, shall we continue?" he said, frowning in aggravation as he turned to the cars lined up against the wall. Nora's face turned bright red and Sideswipe suddenly found the floor very interesting, but soon they looked at each other and burst into quiet, half-suppressed snickers.

What an odd relationship they had already. Arguing one moment, trying to quieten their laughter the next. Optimus shook his head and turned round once more. "Autobots," he began, "Transform." They all looked almost exactly the same as Sides' and Optimus had; places folding and shifting, hoods becoming chests and whatnot. When they were all standing in a line, Optimus walked to the end of the line - to the one which had previously been the Camaro. "My scout, Bumblebee." he explained. Nora didn't expect him to wave and play the ninth line from Rolling Stones - 'Sympathy for the Devil' from his radio.

"Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name!" he gestured to his paintjob as he said this, which made Nora realize why he was called Bumblebee and she grinned at him, acknowledging the pun. Optimus moved along one 'Bot. "This," he said, "is my Weapons Specialist, Ironhide." Before Nora could even blink, Ironhide was up in her face, peering at her.

"Hmm...are you sure she can be trusted, Prime? I am unsure..." he backed off only when Optimus placed a solacing hand on his shoulder with a nod. "I'll be watching you, runt." Nora looked at him, an indignant look on her pale face. She blinked at him before speaking.

"_Runt_? What kind of nickname is that?" she scrunched up her face, as though in thought. "Oh! I know, I'll give you a nickname too - what's up, Ironass?" Sideswipe and Bumblebee snorted, casting amused looks at the human(whose lips were twitching despite the fact one angry Weapons Specialist was standing at full height, growling at her); she watched as he stepped back so Optimus could introduce the next 'Bot. "This is Wheeljack, our...inventor." Nora was surprised to hear a note of reluctance in his voice as he let Wheeljack step forward._  
_

"Hello, new human!" he practically yelled at her in excitement as he nodded to the left of him, at a closed door. "My lab is that way and if you ever want to come visit, maybe help with experiments-" he was cut off by a loud horn blaring from the green robot(who was subtly shaking his head at him and frowning as he said "No human experiments. Remeber last time?") Wheeljack scowled and stepped back into line, giving Nora a small smile anyway. Nora shook her head; she was obviously not allowed into the big robot lab. Which of course meant she was totally going later.

"My First Lieutenant Jazz." This was the smaller, silver robot and when he stepped up to meet 'n' greet, he grinned at Nora. "S'up girl?" he had a surprisingly deep voice - almost as deep as Optimus - as he reached out a claw for her to shake. Carefully, the girl did so and said, "You're kind of short, huh? Are you the youngest?" She didn't expect Jazz's face to turn sour and for him to step back silently. Feeling she had offended him, she looked up at Sides'. All she got was a shrug and a muttered, "Bee's the youngest. Jazz just doesn't like people acknowledging the fact he's shorter than the rest of us. OW! What the slag?!" he glared up(or down, really)at Jazz as the silver mech fought back a grin. Apparently, he had shot him. In the head. With a plasma cannon, no less. Before they could rage, Optimus quickly moved on.

"Ratchet...my CMO and a good friend of mine." Ratchet just nodded at Nora and went back to fiddling with something emitting sparks in his hand.

"Well that's polite. Nice to meet you too, guy." Nora commented, receiving a short glare from the medic.

"These are my Autobots...my friends...my family. One of them is not here, though his patrol ended about thirty minutes ago, so he should be back any minute now..." Sure enough, an annoyingly loud shout of "Bro! You're back! Sweet!" reached their ears and as Sideswipe turned, a shiny yellow blur crashed into him, sending him sprawling - and sending Nora flying out of his hand.

* * *

The first thing Nora felt was air; nothing below her feet, nothing above her head - she was in the air after that ass tackled Sideswipe and now she was falling, waiting for the impact which had to come. Unless someone caught her - which was highly unlikely - then pain was waiting for her, lurking in the shadows, awaiting its chance to engulf her like fire. And then she felt herself falling, like it was in slow motion, and the impact was on its way; sure enough, seconds later and-

**THUD-CRACK**

Silence. Then the pain hit her whole back in waves and she started breathing heavily and letting out loud groans of agony. She wasn't sure about the extent of her injury, just that she had never felt physical pain like this in her life. When it became apparent that no one was touching her or helping her, she couldn't hold it any more and she just screamed in blinding pain for at least three slow seconds; this was much worse than what she'd felt in Sideswipe's car mode. Suddenly she felt fingers trying to pick her up and she screamed again, though this time it was words. "No! No, don't touch me, it hurts! Oh, God, I need help, I can't breathe!" it was true - the pain was only intensifying and every breath she took worsened it.

What was odd was that for a few more minutes she could only hear herself and feel her pain - she knew she was lying on the concrete(which probably explained the damage)but she couldn't feel it. Her back was completely numb with pain, and it was ice-cold. Nora didn't want this any more, she wanted the pain to stop.

And then she could hear them. She recognized Ratchet's voice yelling at someone not to touch her, to leave her there, and another voice shouting about idiots(she didn't know what exactly; she just knew it had many repeats of the word fragger in there). "Nora." Ratchet was talking to her, trying to calm her. "Nora. I know you can hear me so I'll say this: I know it's going to hurt, but I have to turn you over-" he was interrupted by the girl's pleading of many no's and don't's, but he looked right into her open eyes and said, louder, "I know it will hurt, but it will take pressure off of your spine and you'll feel a little better, I promise." Forced to ignore her, he gently scooped her up with both hands as slowly as possible and lowered her to the floor on her front. He had been correct, and she felt instantly better, though she was still in a lot of pain. Something sharp pierced her and she gasped as a cold liquid seeped into her.

She fell asleep instantly, and the anesthetic freed her from her agony. For now, at least.

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A/N: Wow, this turned kind of dark really fast. Well, the next one will be better, hopefully. It was necessary for the next part :3 I still need to think of the chapter first X3 But it will get better! Please leave a review and see you next chapter! :D


	7. Chapter 7

This idea had been in my head for a while and finally getting it typed out feels great :D Enjoy

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Something was not right; Nora knew it was wrong the second she opened her eyes and saw she was lying on her front on a charred, ash smeared carpet. It was dark, dimly lit; the air felt dry and smelled like coal and dust; the girl climbed to her feet, looking around her warily. Fire was crackling a few feet away from her, slowly devouring the oxygen and the surrounding building. This place looked familiar. Nora knew she had seen it before, yet the answer danced away from her, avoiding capture and refusing to reveal itself.

Nora turned in a full circle, taking everything in. Slabs of concrete and slats of wood littered the floor, paint peeled from the walls and the roof looked like it could cave in any second. As she walked, a hunk of black wood fell, narrowly missing her head. "Damn..." Her lungs burned from the little amount of smoke the flame was emitting as she coughed, listening for anything besides the fire. "Where the hell am I?" she muttered, flicking a piece of ash from her shoulder. Finding nothing in this room but a splintered table and the remains of a chair, she stepped carefully into the next. This room was much bigger and housed a long rectangular table, much like the ones they held in offices or meetings.

Offices. Fire. Realization hit Nora and a wave of nausea overcame her as her brain connected the dots. This was the office where her mother had worked; the place her father had gone to help out; the place where Nora's life was taken from her by the cold, cruel hands of fate. Even as she came to this revelation, she refused to accept it. She thought about turning around and getting the hell out of there, but a low, croaky voice stopped her before she could. "Nora..." the name was drawn-out and came from somewhere to her left, in the corner of the room. What the girl saw made her eyes widen and she knew this would haunt her forever. There, in the corner, lay the recognizable scorched body of her father.

He reached out to her, almost pleadingly, fingers blackened, skin red raw. The smell of burning flesh reached Nora's nose and she retched, reeling backwards in shock - only to step on something soft behind her. She whirled round, eyes darting about until she saw it. On the floor in front of her lay the twitching body of her mother. Her hair, once elbow-length and shiny blonde, was now reduced to wisps on her blistering scalp. Her mother, too, reached out, but before Nora could move out of reach her father's hand had closed tight around her ankle. Yelling out in fear, Nora tried to scramble backwards but only managed to trip over. "Please! Let go!" she shouted, kicking her leg to try and loosen the grip her father had on her, "Let go!" Her mother was crawling closer and closer, breaths coming in rattles and wheezes; they were so close, and Nora could recognize what features were left of her beloved parents. A terrible grief washed over her; tears pricked her eyes as the fear paralyzed her, waiting for her death, and as they spilled over she screamed, this endless torment causing her to tremble violently.

* * *

Nora sat up with a gasp, the events of her worst nightmare still fresh in her mind. Her forehead was soaked and her clothes damp with sweat; she was hyperventilating as the tears flowed down her cheeks and into her mouth; she wiped her forehead with her arm and as it came away wet, she decided she had to move. Sweltering heat had engulfed her body and after that dream, she'd had enough of it for one day.

To her confusion, she was in a bed covered in a blanket; she looked at her surroundings, noticing she was in one of the rooms of the Autobot Base. There were rows of berths in this room, and she was looking down with a bird's eye view due to her being on a small raised platform of some kind. There were steps leading up to it for the humans' medical care.

So she threw off the blanket covering most of her lower body and stood, legs shaky, only to nearly collapse to the polished floor from lack of energy. She groaned as she furiously wiped at the tears still coming heavily and took several deep breaths. Sitting on the bed helped, and when the tears were gone only the sweat remained. _I guess I should call Ratchet...ask him if there's a shower in here, _Nora thought, grimacing. "Uh...Ratchet? You in here?" silence greeted for for a minute before the CMO walked out from an adjoining room.

"Ah, you're awake. How is your back feeling?" He studied her carefully, no doubt scanning her to make sure she was well. Nora had forgotten about the previous day until now, but to her astonishment the pain was no longer there. She raised her hands and felt along where it _had _been - and found nothing but smooth skin(and sticky sweat, ew). She looked up at Ratchet and forced a smile.

"It feels great, thanks!" she gave him a thumbs up, "What happened to me, by the way? You know, apart from the intense pain." Ratchet suddenly looked miffed and a mid sense of foreboding filled the room.

"After that _fragger, _Sunstreaker, knocked Sideswipe down and you fell, I injected you with an anesthetic. You had been out for at most four hours and you injured your thoracic vertebrae and a portion of your lumbar vertebrae, which I easily fixed of course. Now," he continued, before Nora could even open her mouth, "You're a human, so I'm guessing you'll want to cleanse yourself. There are washing facilities to hep you with that and Major Lennox will have a change of clothes for you. Now go! I have a certain yellow twin to deal with..."he growled, stalking off.

"Wow, Sunstreaker better be good at running..." she muttered, before setting off to find Lennox.

* * *

"Alright, once you're done showering just wear these. You know where to go to get back to the Autobots, right?" Lennox handed her a pair of slightly worn-out aqua jeans, a loose-fitting dark blue shirt and a pair of socks. Nora nodded at him before inspecting the clothes.

"Where did you get these?" she asked, considering Ratchet had said she'd only been out for about three hours and the nearest store was almost five hours away. Lennox looked sheepish as he rubbed his neck.

"Uh, they're some old clothes of my wife's. They're pretty old, as you can see, so do what you want with 'em. I've given you a belt just in case they're too loose or anything." At that moment, Nora's stomach chose then to make a loud grumbling noise as Lennox looked at her. "When was the last time you ate?" Nora shrugged, not meeting his eyes in embarrassment.

"A week ago, give or take a few..." she grinned awkwardly as he nodded. "I'll eat later, I swear." Lennox just nodded as he began walking away, leaving her to her shower. "I'll make sure you do!" he called back. The girl turned to walk into the bathroom and almost had a heart attack when there in front of her stood a man wearing a yellow shirt and black jeans. His blonde hair was ruffled, yet still suited him. Glancing around to see where he'd come from, Nora coughed. "Can I help you?" the man - who actually looked around her age, if a coupe years older - smiled at her and gestured to her back. "What, my back? How did you even know-" it clicked in her head and she stared before breaking into a grin. "Bumblebee! Holy cow, you have one too?" Bee nodded and impatiently gestured once again at her back. "Oh, that? I'm fine!"

Bee grinned back, satisfied, jerking a thumb behind him and waving. Nora understood and waved back. When he was gone she walked into the bathroom and when the shower was running hot, she allowed the steam to fill the room; climbing in was heaven; as the warmth ran down her hair and body, the shower water began to mix with her tears as she once again sobbed about her nightmare and in the memory of her parents in private.

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Another chapter for you all! Yay verily! :D Please leave a review and thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

This is a continue of last chapter - almost straightaway, after Nora gets out of the shower. Also stuff written in **bold **is Bumblebee's radio talk(there may not be a source, but still :3) Enjoy!

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Nora inspected herself in the mirror, making sure the clothes Lennox had given her both fitted and suited her. The shirt was a little big on her lengthwise, reaching to her thighs, and it wasn't really something she'd choose to wear, but beggars can't be choosers. Plus, she preferred loose to tight anyway. Everything else was fine, but she planned on shortening the jeans to make them into three-quarter lengths; she needed the leather belt after all, as they kept threatening to slip past her waist, so after slipping it on and buckling it, she stepped out of the bathroom in search of a knife or a pair of scissors. Men dressed similar to Major Lennox walked past her in both directions, casting her curious glances every now and then. She paid them no heed; she was used to being ignored anyway.

Halfway to the largest room(Lennox had told her on the way to the bathrooms that it was called a Rec Room, or Recreational Room for short)Nora met Optimus, who looked down at her, knelt and smiled. He wondered why the girl had not dried her hair after cleansing herself; now it simply hung limp, looking rather bedraggled and much darker than it really was. When he voiced his curiosity she took a strand of it in her fingers, seeming to inspect it for a moment as she ignored the trickle of water running down her wrist. "I dunno, Optimus, I just didn't take the time to dry it." she shrugged. That was another thing Optimus found odd and slightly intriguing - her unique accent. He had been told she was from a place called Scotland, which he'd never heard of until today. He had looked up Scotland and had been amazed at the beauty of the land yet saddened at the tale of one who came from such a land. His thoughts were interrupted by a hand waving in front of his optics. He realized he had been staring at the girl as he thought, making her uncomfortable under his stare.

"Uh, have I done something wrong sir? You were sorta out o' it there...no that I'm hurrying you along..."she mumbled, seeing Optimus chuckle and shift, preparing to stand. "I apologize, young one...I was merely lost in thought." he watched her roughly tuck some hair away as she shuffled on the spot.

"Oh yeah, that happens to me sometimes. Quite a lot actually." she explained as he nodded with another chuckle. He rose to his full height, careful not to step on any humans - including the girl herself.

"Well then I suppose we had better go our separate ways for now. I will see you at a later time, Eleanora." as he walked away, Nora stood for a moment, a little surprised. "Eleanora? How did he even find out-ah, forget it, I don't really care. I'm tired." She noticed a soldier standing staring at her in bewilderment, obviously wondering why she was talking to herself. Smiling awkwardly, she put her hand to her ear and tried to pretend she had a bluetooth or something, muttering words into it as though responding to someone. She lowered her hands and looked at the soldier. "Not working? No? You sure?...ah damn it. I am _not_ crazy!" she added cheerfully, with a smile and a thumbs up. The soldier hurried past without looking back.

"Great, the first one who thinks I'm crazy. Let the list begin." she deadpanned, rolling her eyes and continuing walking. Eventually she found the cafeteria and walked in. Only a handful of soldiers were in here, so she slipped past into the kitchen and grabbed the first pair of scissors she spotted. She cut away most of the jeans until they reached just past her knees, careful not to cut herself. She thought this looked fine. She replaced the scissors, trashed the spare material, turned - and literally bumped right into Lennox's chest. "What? How the hell-" he silenced her by clearing his throat.

"Oh good. Now you're here you can have some food," he said, gesturing to the accumulating line of soldiers waiting for food. "If you go now you can do whatever for the rest of the day. Until Sam comes back in about a week anyway." he added, sighing. Nora raised an eyebrow.

"Sam? Who's Sam? Where is he?" she asked, forgetting she'd already heard Lennox say something about this 'Sam' person. Lennox waved his hand dismissively and told her he'd tell her later. With that, he sat at one of the tables near a dark-skinned man wearing an army suit just like everyone else and a red beret with a silver symbol on the front. They started talking and Nora began to inspect the foods, looking for something suitable. She cringed - everything was _meat_; she was strongly against eating meat. There was not a single non-meat offer in sight. The smell of cooking fish kept reaching her and she breathed out through her nose heavily to get rid of the offending stench. She returned to Lennox. "I can't eat any o' that stuff," she complained, "I'm a vegetarian." Lennox sighed again.

"Of course...here," he took a ten dollar note out of his pocket and trying to hand it to her. She stepped back, not wanting to take it, a hesitant frown on her face. He thrust it at her, insisting. "Take it, I earn a lot more than this a week, trust me." After much coaxing she finally pocketed it and went to find a chauffeur.

* * *

"Come on, just one ride."

"I'd rather not."

"Come on, Sunstreaker, you kind of owe me. You _broke_ me."

"Pullin' the guilt card ain't gonna cut it, human." Sunstreaker rolled his eyes.

Nora huffed and went off to find a less tight-arsed 'Bot to help her. Her stomach growled and she cast a glare at the vain yellow mech polishing himself. "May as well try Sideswipe or Bumblebee. Maybe even Wheeljack, that guy was cool..." Nora saw movement to her left and turned, seeing the same soldier from earlier attempting to shuffle away unseen, bewildered look back on his face. Nora sighed. "For the love of-get out of here! Go!" he walked as fast as he could away from the girl who kept talking to herself. Nora groaned in frustration. "That guy is gonna give me the eye for weeks now..." she said as she went on her search for a 'Bot. About fifteen minutes later she wandered into the Rec Room and saw Bee, Sideswipe and Jazz sitting on the 'Bot couch conversing. For a second it occurred to her she hadn't seen anyone else since that introduction the day before. She ran over and jumped, landing successfully on the couch next to the former 'Bot.

"Hey. Where's Ironass and Wheeljack? I know Ratchet's in the Med Bay." she asked. Jazz snorted, shifting himself to a better position.

"'Jackie's probably in his lab fixin' ta blow somethin' up, and Ironhide the same, only in the shootin' range." he explained, turning to Bee when he started whirring. His radio started shooting out phrases and lines; "**Shouldn't mock people who hold the big guns, you know**...**" **the clicks coming from his chest sounded like laughter as he watched her shrug and grin. "**So if you don't care, fine then, I don't care either.**" he finished, smiling at her.

"So what's up, Nora, ya need something or are ya bored already?" Sideswipe asked, watching as Nora looked up at them. She shrugged, flicking a piece of hair away - they noticed she did that a lot - before smiling.

* * *

As it turned out, Jazz was due for a meeting and Sideswipe was on patrol with his twin. Wheeljack was in his lab as per usual and as Bumblebee had offered to take her out, he forbade her from going in there; telling her it was "too dangerous for a human", to which she had rolled her eyes and gave off an exaggerated groan. After thanking him she allowed him to carry her in his palm to the exit. Her eyes were glued to him the second he transformed; the sleek, shiny Camaro was amazing - she felt unworthy to sit in it! Climbing in made the girl realize how new the car was; not a speck of dirt in sight.

The cool breeze Nora felt with Bee's windows down was great - she lounged in the driver's seat, one arm resting on his exterior and the other placed loosely around the wheel to avoid suspicion from the police or anyone who passed close enough to see inside. _Especially_ police, because Nora was officially too young to drive and couldn't explain how a Cybertronian was doing the driving. "Hey Bee?" she began, "How are you all so...perfect, _all_ the time?" Bumblebee whirred in amusement as she elaborated. "I mean, you all drive around a lot but never get dirty." Bee clicked and his radio spoke. "**We are just too pretty-**" he cut off before the quote finished and Nora laughed.

"Sunstreaker seems to think so!"

* * *

"Wow. Man, that was so worth it," the stuffed girl said, finishing her soda and trashing it, "I guess we should head back now huh?" Bee nodded. His holoform had black hair just like Nora, and he was about the same age as her. Everything but his Bermuda shorts(which were also black)was a dark yellow color. His trainers were like his alt; yellow with black stripes and laces. Nora hadn't gotten new shoes and so hers were worse than ever. She stood, the plastic chair she had been sitting in scraping as she pushed it outwards, before climbing back into the Camaro and relaxing again. "Thanks Bee. Do you do this often or something?" she asked, immediately thinking of how this Sam got his food. Bee nodded and climbed into his own altmode before fizzling out and driving off. "**Do it all the time-boy just won't otherwise.**" Nora nodded in understanding and sat up, peering at the sky.

"Hey Bumblebee...is it just me, or is that jet coming straight at us?" she said, gasping as the 'Bot swerved off the road and sped as far away from society as possible. "Bee? What's going on?!" the girl yelled as they went over an off-road pothole. Bee was whirring and clicking faster than usual. "**We gotta get out of here, pronto.**" They got far enough away that no one would see the blast from the sky that flipped the car over.

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Such a long chapter! I couldn't find a place to end it X3 Hope you enjoyed, and I think this counts as a cliff hanger :D Please leave a review, they _do _help, and see you next update! :D


	9. Chapter 9

This update took longer than I meant it to, sorry about that :/ I don't get my own laptop until December D': Anyway - minor swearing - only one or two words, my OC only swears when either angry or in a lot of pain. Thanks for all the reviews I've received so far! :D Hope you enjoy!

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The world was spinning, colors and shapes whizzing by; confusion clouded Nora's head as she struggled to prevent herself from being thrown around in Bee's cab, clutching the seats, while at the same time she could feel the multiple impacts the 'Bot was taking. The sound of wrenching metal reached her time and time again as Bee tried in vain to flip himself the right way up. The girl vaguely heard Bee talk, though she had to strain herself to hear exactly what he said.

"**Abandon ship! Abandon ship!...-for your own good."** his radio crackled right before his right side - the passenger seat - caved in, glass shattering and windowframe bending. She understood at once, eyes widening as she looked to her left at the still-spinning land.

There was no time to protest - moments later the driver's side door opened and Nora was thrown out, airborne at least ten feet up for a second before landing painfully on her side, instantly winding her; she looked over at Bumblebee just as he stopped flipping and watched him transform, casting his optics around in a panic, searching for her. A shadow loomed over her and she rolled over onto her back, gasping. There, above her, stood a silver Transformer about the same height as Sideswipe(though not as tall as Optimus)who was currently focused on Bumblebee; he seemed not to have noticed Nora yet, so she stayed very still, waiting for a chance to get away from the giant foot very near her face. Unlike the other Autobots, who all had blue optics, this menacing mech sported narrow, blood-red optics. He was occasionally sort of..._drooling_ energon, mainly when he made his odd little noises of mirth at the injured Autobot. When he spoke, he had a raspy sort of voice; it sent wary shivers down Nora's spine.

"Autobot _scum,_" he spat(literally), getting Bee's attention as the 'Bot whirled around to face the new mech. Bee's optics narrowed in loathing; he spotted Nora as she began very slowly climbing to her feet. He looked away the moment he saw her in case the Decepticon realized she was there, but unfortunately this was exactly what happened; the 'Con glanced down, saw Nora, then made to grab her. She realized what was happening and with a yelp rolled out of the way of his grasping fingers as he growled. "Do not _run _from me, human!" he hissed, sending energon cascading down; most of it splattered onto the soil, but some of it splashed on Nora. The skin on her arms absorbed it and burnt them like fire from hell as she cried out in pain, glaring up at the thing, furious.

"What's your problem bitch?" she yelled and with that she aimed a swift kick at his foot. In hindsight, this was a terrible idea - pain shot through her leg and she mentally slapped herself as the Decepticon sneered at her.

"Your frail body cannot hurt me, human," he told her, and this time Nora dodged the apparently harmful spit, "Now die!" At this final remark the Decepticon shot at her, missing by mere centimeters. He created several small craters in the ground, sending Nora airborne once more until she landed with a solid thump. Bee looked at the Decepticon, hate in his optics, and blared "**This ain't their fight!**" as he gestured to the human girl. Nora looked at him, hoping he'd be OK considering he was much smaller than the red-eyed mech.

And kick this freak's arse at the same time, of course.

From behind them came the sound of several revving engines and while Bee stayed focused on the spitting pile of junk, Nora stumbled to her feet, wincing at the pain in her foot and the burns on her arms as she moved, but when she saw the group of Autobots she grinned. It was Ironhide, cannons blazing, the Twins, identical looks of concentration on their faces, and Ratchet, his signature frown fixed on his faceplates.

"Decepticon punk!" Ironhide glared and fired a shot that soared over Bee's head and hit the drooling mech. Then, as he was still busy with that and before he could retaliate, Sunstreaker did the same as Sideswipe swept his feet from under him, causing him to land with ground-shaking crunch; he then jumped, transformed and ground his accelerating wheel into the 'Con's face. Shrieking with pain, he heaved the wheel off of him, transformed into an F-22 jet and before he flew off, hissed "Lord Megatron will hear of your new...addition..." Sunstreaker ran forward to join his brother and snorted, looking up at where the mech had disappeared. They looked at each other and grinned.

"Coward!" they said this at the same time and Nora blinked. Pain still throbbed in her arms, neck and foot and she could see Ratchet glaring at her; stumbling to her feet she limped toward them, managing a grin.

"Who was that?" she sounded like she'd like to kick his arse herself, though of course her size would not help. Bee knelt and frowned at her as she waved him off. "Before you even start, I'm fine," she said, "No harm done, no pain no gain, right?" She noticed all the Autobots staring at her and shuffled uncomfortably. "Uh, what? Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

Ironhide put his guns away and harrumphed. He turned away and transformed. "No," he said, "A boy we are affiliated with used that saying once," he explained, "Are you acquaintanced with him? His name is Samuel Witwicky." The name stirred something in Nora's mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She shook her head, trying to remember the name. "No. It's just something my dad used to say, said he learned it from a family friend. Witwicky...rings a bell..." With a shrug she climbed into Ironhide and, ignoring his grumbling, patted the dashboard. "I'm sure you can explain him to me on the way back."

* * *

Ironhide finished explaining the story of the Witwicky's just as the Autobots started pulling into the base. The government was left with the task of clearing up the scene of the fight - the craters, the currently slightly-radioactive, blue stained soil and the bits of Cybertronian metal littering the land. They also had to deal with the people who had spread the sighting of a jet shooting and dive bombing a car.

The driver's door popped open and Nora scrambled out; once she was standing on the concrete she suddenly wasn't sure what to do. Ironhide had told her that Sam would be back in a day, early, so she could meet him then - for now she wasn't entirely certain where to go or who to talk to. Ironhide walked off somewhere, presumably to the shooting range, and Bee had gone in for repairs; the Twins had been sent on patrol to scout for more 'Decepticons', as she'd been told they were called, and so now she had three options.

Go to Wheeljack's lab, see what Prime was up to or report to Ratchet for the nasty-looking red blisters on her arms. She weighed the options, figuring that the leader would be busy, and a trip to the medic so soon after her last accident might not bode too well with him, she decided to see Wheeljack for the first time since the introduction. Although she had been warned not to she argued that telling a teenager not to do something led to them doing it anyway, so she walked out of the rec-room with her plan, only to realize she had no idea where his lab was, or if he was even in there. Evidence pointed to yes, seeing as how she hadn't seen hide nor tail of him in almost four days, but doubt still lurked - until she saw the dark-skinned man Lennox had sat with in the cafeteria stride past her at the end of the hallway. "Hey!" she called, waving and running to catch up to him, "Wait! You're Lennox's friend right? Wait up!" she turned the corner, saw him talking to a soldier; she jogged up to him and stood there, waiting for him to finish his conversation. He sent the soldier off before turning to her with a frown.

"May I help you? Why aren't you in uniform?" He said, disapproval clear in his voice as he continued writing on a pad. Nora looked down at the clothes Lennox's wife had once worn, flexing her toes and watching the worn out material of her own shoes bend up with them. She stood there in silence for a minute. Lennox's friend cleared his throat. "Well? Soldier?" At "Soldier" she was attentive as she looked up at his face.

"I may not be the best dressed," she flexed the shoes again for emphasis, "or the smartest, or the prettiest...but I take no _shit_ from anyone. I am not your soldier, nor am I someone you can talk down to, so look at me when I speak to you." she watched him slowly look up, a shocked look on his face, before he burst out laughing. A growl rose in her throat; she had been laughed at plenty of times in her life and was sick of it. "Mind telling me what's so funny?" the growl almost escaped. Still chuckling, he replied,

"Aw, damn, girl, I know who you are! You're the girl Sideswipe brought in!" he patted her roughly on the back, nearly sending the girl stumbling forward, and sighed. "Will warned me you might turn vicious! I'm Robert Epps, by the way, but you can call me Epps. Everyone does." he laughed again, then abruptly turned serious. "Hey, is it true you're an orphan?" Nora blinked at him, not answering the question. What an awfully rude thing to ask like that. Anger returning (along with a hint of wistful longing at the little reminder), she spat, "No, of course not - I love living alone around a bunch of strangers I barely know!" He held up his hands in a surrendering gesture and said "Woah, calm down. I only wanted to know because I used to know your dad, I knew Angus, from school."

All feelings left Nora. Now there was just this emptiness, this numbness; she swallowed, all background noise gone; it was only her and him. Nora knew her dad had gone to a college in England - Epps didn't sound English.

"Yeah," he said softly, seeming to sense her doubt, "Yeah, I know, sounds hard to believe. I'm not from England or anything, just went to school there, living with my aunt." He put his hands down, one coming to rest on her shoulder. "When Lennox told me about him and Bridget dying, I almost cried. He was my best friend. God only knows how you feel every day," He shook his head and sighed. "Your dad and his Bridget were together for years, loved each other so much. You couldn't separate them if their lives depended on it. I lost contact with Angus after we graduated, but I know that when your mother had you, it musta been the best day of his life, your mom's too. They were good people, Nora. Always were and they always will be." Nora had tears in her eyes. Refusing to show this kind of weakness around anyone she blinked to keep them back and smiled up at Epps.

"Thank you." she muttered, feeling bittersweet as he nodded with his own smile and continued on his way. Nora figured she'd rather find the lab on her own, give herself time to dry her face and gather herself.

* * *

She met Jazz on the way. He had learned of the fighting and had asked if she was OK, what with the untreated burns on her arms and the scar he had see on her back after she'd fallen in one of the hallways. This alone was embarrassing, and she then had to explain how the scar came from something else. He was doubtful of the burns.

"Nora, I'm pretty sure ya should get ol' Ratchet th' Hatchet ta take a look at that." He said uncertainly, eyeing her as she waved off his concerns. He was accompanying her as far as the shooting range, where he was going to train with Ironass.

"I'm fine," she assured for the second time in the past two hours. "I'll go to him tomorrow if it makes you feel better." She found it amusing that she and Jazz were two of the only people who didn't sound American in this place. He hummed and nodded, turning a corner and calling back,

"Ya better. I'll check with 'im!"

Nora soon found the lab and walked inside like she wasn't new to it. "Weren't you told not to come here?" a grumpy Wheeljack grumbled as he tinkered with something on the large table in front of him. He put it down before turning to face her, leaning slightly on the edge. Nora shrugged and moved as if to leave, taking each step slowly and deliberately. It had only taken her an hour to find the lab in such a huge place - she wasn't leaving yet!

"Well if you don't want me in here with you, I'll go find Jazz." she said, listening to him hum in thought. Eventually, just as she was nearing the door, he spoke up.

"I didn't say you couldn't stay though..." he said, making her grin. She'd known that would work. Then she was picked up so suddenly in his metal hands - which were surprisingly warm - that she felt momentarily dizzy as the floor sped away from her and she remembered what had happened last time she was this high up. "You can help me if you'd like. Samuel won't help me because-um, he's not interested." he added quickly, and Nora was immediately suspicious. He cleared his throat and turned, putting her down on the desk with the thing he was working on. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, gesturing at it proudly. The girl studied it, turning her head at different angles, inspecting it. Her head lifted.

"Nope. It's made of Cybertronian metal, right? I've never seen it when it's not attached to you guys." He nodded approvingly, picking up what looked like an advanced, shiny, black grenade pin.

"Good," he said, "I'd be surprised if you _did_ know. _Pleasantly_ surprised, but, all the same. Now!" he added, loudly, as Nora jumped. "We finish building the outer edges of the explosive, and then, it'll be ready for the battlefield! I expect Ironhide will get the most use out of these..." he continued muttering, apparently to himself yet seeming pleased at Nora's look of rapt attention and interest.

_**Seven Hours Later**_

"Ha! Finished!" Wheeljack exclaimed, holding up the new grenade for Nora to see. He frowned when he saw her sitting there, head bobbing in an effort to stay awake. Even as she told him it looked 'Like awesome and amazing became one' he kept his pride at bay, thanked her and offered "Perhaps I should escort you to your quarters." It _was _getting rather late, and he knew humans required sleep. Ignoring her head shaking protests he put down the weapon and scooped her up. "No arguments, Miss. I'll take you," as an afterthought, he smiled. "I'll even postpone testing until you can see it with me." He chuckled at her look of excitement and proceeded out of his lab and in search of the human's quarters. When he arrived, Epps was just coming out of it and Nora had fallen asleep in his hand. Epps waved to him as he knelt. "Epps" 'Jack said, quietly, "Please take Miss Nora to a bed. She is asleep right now." He lowered his hand and Epps smiled at the sleeping girl.

"Yeah, I'll take her." He lifted her into his strong arms and retreated back into the human's quarters. Wheeljack stood, knowing that he and this human would get along very well...once she was fully rested.

* * *

Finally! Procrastination kills xD Hope you enjoyed, cos I sure did. I love writing :) Please leave a review, they make me happy :D Next chapter the Witwicky's return and they meet Nora, so see you then!


	10. Chapter 10

Nothing to put up here really, except the one thing I keep forgetting to do: the disclaimer. I'll put that at the end here. Enjoy guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I only only own my OC, Nora, and the storyline.

* * *

The girl remembered drifting off in Wheeljack's lab, and it was a bright, well-lit lab - it was darker now, and definitely not the mech's lab. She lay still, unsure of where she currently was and still in a state of half-sleep confusion. Her body felt stiflingly hot, while for some reason her arms felt ice cold. She could hear nothing but her own breathing, unsteady but quiet, though it sounded loud in the silence; panic rose in her chest as the images from her recent nightmare flashed before her eyes in the darkness. She struggled to sit up, soft material smothering her as she kicked and tried to dispel the horrifying images of smoke, flame, and crumbling wood invading her mind.

Nora's efforts were leading her nowhere; her legs kept getting caught in the blanket and she - wait, a _blanket_? It was then she realized someone had put her in a bed somewhere, though she'd obviously struggled in the night, as the absence of pillows proved. How late was it? Why was it so dark? Eventually she kicked herself free and stood, her eyes itching from lack of sleep. Having no idea where the light was, or if there was one, she felt around blindly until a protruding bit of plastic in the wall met her searching fingers - she pushed upwards and the room flooded with dim yellow light. It was a small room. A bed, white sheets now lying mostly on the floor with the pillows, drenched in warm sweat; a digital clock that showed her it was just past midnight. This proved to her that she must not have slept long, because she'd stayed with 'Jack until at most 8 or 9pm. Nora groaned, voice threatening to break, and rubbed at her tired eyes, feeling some of the burning itch ebb away.

Nora caught sight of her arms and gasped. The energon burns the freak Decepticon had given her had disappeared, replaced with deep blue lines resembling veins, running from her wrists up to her upper arm where they tapered off. She stared at them, bewildered, before shaking her head - she'd have no choice but to go to Ratchet now. Either someone would make her go, take her directly to him, or the lines would darken or get worse. She disregarded it for now, knowing she'd go later.

The only other thing in here was a small, rectangular wooden bedside table, on top of which lay a phone(a freaking _IPhone_)with a green sticky note stuck to it, a small brown paper bag, a purse the size of a can of juice and a picture. After she had calmed herself considerably, she picked up the paper bag and peered inside. A messy lump of forest-green material met her eyes along with a dark blue underneath. The girl emptied the bag onto the bed - clothes. _New _clothes. A pair of loose jeans, the green shirt, ankle liners and a pair of black canvas trainers. Her face turned a light pink when she saw the underclothes, hoping no one she knew had bought these. She stared at them for a minute before noticing the A4 lined paper that had fell out with the clothes. From Lennox, it read,

_I realized you must only have one change of clothes now so I went and bought these using some of the N.E.S.T Base's budget - don't worry, they won't mind, nor will they miss it. Change into these, put the ones you're wearing now into this bag, and leave it at the end of the bed. My wife saw a security picture of you and she got you these. Trust me, they'll all fit perfectly. When you're ready, you can come out of that room and into Base. Also - the money in the purse? **Keep it**. It's yours, be it for clothes, food, toys, whatever you want. **Do not **try to give it back to either Epps or myself. That's it for now._

He hadn't explained the phone, but she'd read the note later. For now, she wanted to shower; she'd just have to sleep in a towel.

* * *

By the time she stepped out of the bathroom, it was around 12:54am, though it would have been sooner if she hadn't debated with herself about whether she should accept the army men's kindness. The bag of new clothes sat on the table, the old ones dropped outside the shower. Now she focused on the phone. She peeled off the large-ish note first, reading the writing fairly quick.

_Use whenever you need, fully charged, is programmed with Autobots Comms. Charger under table._

_-Epps._

Nora couldn't stop the grin that spread over her face; she'd heard about these phones, she'd just never actually touched or seen one before; after all, she had been too young for one when her parents were alive, and the lack of money in the orphanage had stopped her buying one.

Not that she'd needed it. Besides, it would have just been stolen and broken by the other kids.

She found the power button, switched it on. She saw the apps; camera, video, calendar, app store, clock etc. In the bottom row, where the Phone, Music, Safari and Settings apps were kept, she pressed her finger to the contacts, seeing a list of all the Autobot's names along with Lennox and Epps. She smiled, appreciating the things they had done for her. A yawn escaped her then, and she switched the phone off, laying it on the table and offing the light(she opened the blinds a little, she was ashamed to admit)before climbing back into the bed. Just lay there breathing, staring at the ceiling, waiting for blissful sleep. Unfortunately, the sleep was not as blissful as she had hoped, and instead was filled with darkness and fear. She tossed in her troubled sleep, waking six hours later with tears streaming down her face and panicked gasps wrenching her chest.

* * *

Sideswipe sighed. He could not regret the day he had rescued his newest friend, Nora, from those foul humans; she was funny, interesting, didn't bother him(too much)and didn't complain when he drove too fast. Although she _could_ be a little ditsy at times, that was part of what made him like her. However, she could not hide the fact that something was clearly wrong; she was developing what the humans called "grey bags" under her eyes, and once, he'd heard her screaming in the room she slept in on the way back from a meeting. He had paused to listen, mildly worried, but had heard nothing but the shower beginning to run, so had left. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with her - aside from the obvious nightmares - and decided he'd have to ask her about it.

"Bro? Hey, bro, ya even listening?" Sideswipe was snapped out of his thoughts by his twin's voice practically yelling right in his audio receptor. He turned and glared at Sunstreaker as he stood and stretched. "Glad ta see you're back," Sunny smirked, poking Sideswipe in the chest. Sideswipe retaliated by giving Sunstreaker a light shove, grinning as the yellow mech looked down with a shocked look on his faceplates. "My paint!" He said, frowning as he returned the shove, harder.

Jazz, sitting on the 'Bot couch and watching them, sighed and shook his head. "Here we go..." He commed Ratchet and Ironhide, seeing which was available, before sitting back with his arms crossed behind his head; he grinned as the shoving continued, waiting for the fun to happen.

* * *

Ratchet had just finished repairing one of the dents in Bumblebee's doorwing when his comm system alerted him. He grumbled to himself as he answered it, listening to Jazz carefully. When he understood what was going on, he spluttered in frustration and turned to Bee. "You!" he called sharply, making Bee's head snap towards him in apprehension.

"**What did I do, to annoy you?**" He cocked his head to the side, hoping he hadn't angered the medic; Primus, it could be scary when he got mad. He watched as Ratchet shook his head, still frowning.

"It's nothing _you've _done, it's what those fragging twins are doing!" He explained, "Stay here until I get back. So help you if you leave this medbay, Bumblebee!" Ratchet nodded in satisfaction when the smaller 'Bot held his hands up in an "I surrender" pose before storming out. Bee shook his own head as he sighed in relief.

Until the boredom began to settle in.

* * *

"Slaggin' bit-brain!"

"Gasket breath!"

"Get recycled!"

"Glitch!"

Jazz continued to watch as the twins threw insults at each other, back and forth, rolling around on the floor as they wrestled. The rec-room doors opened and Ironhide walked in, cannons still smoking faintly. He froze when he saw Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and looked at Jazz for an explanation. Jazz merely told him Ratchet was soon coming, and the Weapons Specialist grunted and sat across from him to polish the smoked armor around the gun. "So," he muttered, "How long have they been at it this time?"

"'Bout ten Earth minutes," Jazz rolled his optics under the visor. "Sunny-"

"Don't call me that!"

Jazz continued as if there had been no interruption. "-started it by pokin' Sides'. It all went downhill from there." Ironhide grunted again and sat passively polishing. Until the doors reopened and the two calm mechs looked up at a furious medic.

"They are in for it now anyway." Ironhide smirked.

* * *

Nora stepped out of the bathroom with a bundle of clothes in her suddenly throbbing arms. She had taken a second shower before dressing in the clothes Mrs Lennox had bought her and just as Will had said, the clothes did, indeed, fit perfectly. The shoes were good, though she figured they'd be kind of useless if she was going to run anywhere(which she sometimes did, in order to get places faster). She reminded herself to thank Lennox later, and to tell his wife from Nora she was grateful. The phone and the purse was pocketed, the old clothes in the bag at the foot of her bed, just as she'd been instructed. The first thing she'd have to buy was a bag; the items were always in danger of falling out if she kept them in a shallow pocket forever. So now she set off for the main part of the base, ignoring the straight bits of damp hair falling into her face.

After about ten minutes of walking she realized she had no idea where to go. There were no soldiers around at 8:30am, all away training or something, so she figured it was time to use the phone for the first time. She brought up the contacts and pressed a finger to Bumblebee's name before putting it to her ear. It picked up almost immediately and she coughed awkwardly at the beep from the other end. "Uh..." her voice cracked and she cleared her throat, "Uh, Bee? I'm lost." Another beep and she frowned. "Bee? Not Cybertronian, dude. Use your radio or something."

"**How did you lose your way?**" Nora shrugged, seemingly forgetting he couldn't see her. Or so she thought - she cast a glance around just to make sure, eyeing the phone suspiciously.

"This place is about four times bigger than the orphanage, Bumblebee. It, is, _huge_." She walked as they talked. "I need you to come help me." To her dismay, Bee informed her that he was confined to the medbay(though he called it hospital, she knew what was meant). "Oh. OK. See you later I guess." She hung up just as a tremor shook the ground and faint yelling echoed down the hall. _Ratchet?_ the girl thought, a bemused expression on her face. Seconds later an enraged Ratchet stormed towards her, towing two nearly-identical twins behind him. Nora raised an eyebrow - at the same time casually folding her arms behind her back - before running to them. "Sideswipe?" she called, fighting a grin when a wrench connected with his head.

"_Don't_ talk to him! He was slagging _fighting _his own twin again!" he stooped to pick up the gleaming, oversized wrench and stormed off, still dragging two kicking, yelling Lamborghinis. A few minutes later the voices faded and she was alone again - until this time ironhide walked through the doors. He stared down at her, studying her for the first time since they'd met. After what seemed like an endless staring match between the two, the large black mech pointed a thumb behind him.

"If you're looking for the others, head that way. Only straight. you got it punk?" he asked, walking off, feet echoing quietly down the hallway every step. Nora shrugged; she figured he might never like her. Listening to his advice she began down that hall, searching for someone to spend the day with.

* * *

New chapter, yay verily! I know it ended on kind of an odd place(or at least I think so)but next chapter will include more Decepticon action, and maybe the Witwicky's! :D Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in here - **_anything_!** All ideas welcome from all people! :D


	11. Chapter 11

Witwicky time! Miles _and _Leo are in this, because I like them both :D The poll (the one about who Nora should end up with) is done, results will be see seen soon :p Enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, only the idea and Nora.

* * *

Optimus was awaiting outside the hangar on the arrival of his human friends. After they were escorted home by Bumblebee(after the scout expressed his joy and excitement at seeing them again, as he surely would), their son, Samuel, was being taken to the Autobot base. He would have to meet Nora sooner or later, as would Mr and Mrs Witwicky. Ironhide had expressed his disliking for the parents earlier("The parents are very irritating..."), much to his annoyance, and had once again asked whether he could terminate them. Optimus could not help but think that maybe he should _command _his weapons specialist to try to relinquish his hate of the humans, but he knew he could not do that; he may have been able to use his authority on the battlefield, or when things got too rough amongst each other, but he could not forcefully change one's opinions or beliefs.

With a sigh, the Prime sat still in his truck form and waited patiently for the arrival of his scout and the boy. He was sure to have questions about Nora, which he would be happy to answer when they came, but he wasn't too sure how they would react to each other. After all, Nora was barely an adult at seventeen; Samuel was already twenty-three years old (though to a Transformer that was nothing) and his younger(though not by much)friends Miles Lancaster and Leo Spitz were sure to have mixed emotions about her...he just hoped they were not "all over her like squirrels to a nut" as Samuel had once so elegantly put it, when talking about Leo's fascination for Mikaela. All he could do was wait and see.

* * *

"So Bee, it's great to see you again buddy," Sam Witwicky was happy as he sat in the driver's seat of his friend, with Miles in the passenger and Leo sprawled out in the back sipping a soda disinterestedly. Leo was still mildly cautious around any Transformer after dealing with the dim-witted Mudflap and Skids - or the Icecream Twins as everyone had come to know them - and had insisted on his current seating. So after about an hour of silence, he jumped when his friend finally talked, sitting upright when Bumblebee emitted a series of squeaks and low pitched whistles before communicating through the radio.

**"I've missed you. Don't leave me again!"** blared something from what the boys guessed was from a song judging by the guitar in the background. Sam smiled and patted the dashboard. "Don't worry, Bee, next vacation's not for a couple years. Maybe that time you can come." He knew it was an empty promise - Witwicky vacations were off-limits to the Autobots and his dad would stick to that like glue. Still, it comforted his robot friend and that was fine for now. Miles recoiled indignantly.

"Dude. You'd' let him come on your sacred holidays but you'd blow me off for a chick?" He turned away to scowl at the passing scenery as Sam rolled his eyes. As they neared the base he grinned; he could already see the Prime waiting for them in the sun, and as he transformed he sighed. It felt good to be back in a place he actually fit in.

* * *

"So, what, there's a new guy coming to your base?"

Sideswipe rolled his opticsas his brother sighed in irritation. He himself had explained this to Nora several times. "He ain't _new_, he was here before ya," he muttered, stifling a snort when he heard Sunstreaker groan at the splatter of mud that splashed up onto his side as they drove. They had gone on patrol nd brought the housebound Nora with them. "Ya were told; he went to Spain for a while and now he's back."

"Right." Nora shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was not used to meeting new people, especially since every time she'd met someone at the orphanage they'd reject her, call her names and make horrid suggestions for her("She should be cast out onto the streets." "Dirty little girl."). She didn't think she could handle another rejection. Sideswipe, seemingly sensing something was wrong, put himself into a lower gear and asked whether she was ok, but he only recieved a fake smile and a nod. He figured it had something to do with Samuel, but he couldn't be sure; he simply urged his brother to go faster and sped up.

* * *

Sam had never been so happy to be home. Or, maybe not 'home' exactly, but...oh, whatever. His second home at any rate. At least here he didn't have his name shrieked at him from downstairs by his batty mother every hour. Or get groaned at for not doing chores properly by his father. Or sometimes both. Optimus had allowed him to roam freely after the greeting and he now sat in the rec-room keeping his eyes open for this mystery arrival he'd been told about, whilst his two guy friends made bets on whether it was a girl or not - which was weird, because they didn't know this person's name, age, parents, any of that - and whether he/she was "a cool dude". Miles sidled up to him on the 'Bot couch as Leo watched with a smirk on his face.

"Dude," he poked Sam in the shoulder. Sam continued on his phone. "_Dude_." he poked again, harder this time, and Sam frowned as he looked up. Miles grinned at him. "Want to cash in on the gender of the new guy?"

"No, I don't. And if you're already calling them "guy" you gotta already think it's a man. Something you'd like to come out of Miles? Like a closet perhaps?" Miles face fell and he leaned back slightly. "Besides," Sam continued, a smile threatening his face, "Even if it is a girl not only do I not care but what if she's like twenty years older than you? You can't date her, man, it's wrong." Miles shrugged.

"Your loss." Leo leaned forwards and raised his hand to get their attention.

"Who said anything about dating?"

Before either of them could react the doors opened and two Lamborghinis sped in, smoke rising from the friction of the wheels grinding against concrete and the smell of burning rubber drifted through the air. Only Sam knew who these mechs were, as Miles had caught up to him later and Leo had probably been too busy laying eggs to notice much at the time. So when he realized, he smiled.

"Hey guys!" A series of greetings came from them, such as "yo" and "how's it goin'". Their windows were not blackened and so they saw clear as day the girl who sat hunched in the driver's seat of Sideswipe. Sam groaned as Leo and Miles fist-bumped with a whoop and just watched in disbelief as they ran to the now still cars, eager to meet the new girl. "Like dogs to a fox..." he mumbled and went to join them.

"Humans, unless you wanna die, stand back." That was definitely Sunny. He transformed, attempting to flaunt himself as he flexed, but unfortunately for him all attention was on his brother, whose door had just slid smoothly open to reveal the same girl sitting uncertainly in the seat. Sideswipe rumbled his engine, urging her gently out, and when she was standing he too transformed, looking down at them, watching.

"Uh...hi," Nora smiled and half waved her hand, obviously trying not to show her nervousness to these strangers - could she trust them? Could she grow to know them? She looked at them as Sunstreaker explained to them who she was and why she was here. One of them had short brown hair and brown eyes, semi-thick eyebrows, the beginnings of a goatee and currently wore a checked blue shirt. The one standing nearest him had shoulder length shaggy blond hair and thinner eyebrows, wearing nothing but a pair of white 3/4 shorts with wavy black lines(presumably due to the heat). The last one had curly brown hair and wore a salmon colored tee. This last one disturbed Nora slightly; he was staring at her blatantly, mouth agape, and he was nudging the blond one repeatedly with his elbow. She tore her eyes away from his brown ones and returned her gaze to the guy who was enduring the nudges. She was drawn to him for some reason. Nora's eyes went from his face to his chest and back again. She could see the light glimmering in his sapphire eyes and the sight calmed her a bit. Before she knew it he glanced at her and the connection was broken - her eyes shot to the floor and heat rose in her face.

"Nora. _Nora_. Nora!" Nora's attention was brought to Sideswipe. He glared down at her. "Were ya _actually _a squirrel in a past life or somethin'?" with a sigh he sat down on the 'Bot couch and was shortly joined by his brother. Alone, in a sense, Nora's hard-ass image was breaking. The shaking hands and the no eye contact showed it as obviously as possible.

"Sooo...Nora, was it? Cute name." _Oh crap_, thought Nora as the creepy guy snaked his arm around her shoulder as though he'd known her for years, gripping her tense shoulder tightly. Nora frowned; this was not okay. She was tempted to throw the man over her shoulder, but before she could he had started speaking again. "Name's Leonardo Ponce de Léon Spitz, but you can call me Leo." he quirked his brows at her as he backed off smirking. A shudder was suppressed. The brown haired guy held out his hands and rubbed his neck.

"Uh, hey. Sorry about him, Mr Creep over there. Oh he has some good qualities...he's great with tazers for example," Leo glared at him. "I'm Sam Witwicky. Hi. Do I already know you? You look familiar..." he seemed to think about it for a while, eyes narrowed as he thought; Leo snorted.

"Don't hurt yourself, Sammy." Sam elbowed him with an eyeroll before shrugging. "Whatever. I'm gonna go call my girlfriend to let her know I'm back, excuse me for a minute." with that, the boy walked over to a set of stairs leading up to a small platform and raised his phone. Nora remembered her own phone and fished it out of a pocket, fiddling with it for a moment to fill some of the silence. Fortunately, blondie seemed to sense the discomfort and coughed.

He held his hand up, fingers pointing skyward, and for a moment Nora was confused. Hesitantly, she reached her own hand out in the same way - and the second their hands slapped together in a highfive, to her annoyance, she felt her heart beat faster.

"Hey, new chick," he spoke, and Nora involuntarily smiled. It was a crooked smile, with a hint of embarrassment and irritation, because she could hear the twins sniggering. She knew they were watching her in amusement as she became slowly flustered. "Miles Lancaster at your service. Hope you don't think I'm a weirdo or a creep, but I like your eyes. They're so bright, one-of-a-kind!"

That was it. Nora's whole face flushed with red and she smiled again, watching as he stepped away and offered to give her a tour of the Autobot base with the three of them. And as she shot the still sniggering Twins a glare, and shoved a lock of hair away, she accepted.

Now she knew she'd cope. Miles and herself were clearly going to get along just fine, and she felt a spark of recognition with Sam...Leo was a little odd, but she knew she'd be okay.

* * *

Aww, Miles and Nora fluff! My friend is already trying to think of a pairing name! Too soon xD I meant this to be longer, but I wanted to update and the next one will be even longer, promise. Hope you enjoyed! Please review and see you next chapter.


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